BROCKTON – Not even four months into 2014, the city has already experienced four murders, three of which occurred within eight days of each other.

However, after the most recent killing, a drive-by shooting that occurred on Grove Street early Saturday evening, law enforcement in city is striking back.

During a press conference at the Brockton Police Station on Tuesday, Mayor Bill Carpenter, Police Chief Bob Hayden, Lt. Paul Bonanca and Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz addressed the recent spate of violence that has plagued the city and what is being done to address it.

“I couldn’t expect the Brockton Police Department to do a better job or work harder than they are doing right now,” said Hayden, who described some of the recent attacks a “unpreventable.”

Nonetheless, Bonanca, the night detectives supervisor, announced that the Brockton Police Department will be increasing its patrols in order to further combat the violence.

“Right now, what we are going to be doing is we are going to increase the hours of coverage of the Brockton Police gang unit, specifically into the late night hours and high crime areas,” Bonanca said.

In addition to extra coverage being provided by the gang unit, uniformed detectives will also be increasing their patrols to bolster the force at night and in high crime areas, and the Brockton Police Department is continuing to build on the partnerships it has created with other agencies, including the Boston Police Department gang unit, Bonanca said.

In order to pay for the additional patrols, Carpenter has requested that the City Council transfer $170,000 to the police department’s overtime account.

The mayor also announced that he will sending a proposal to the License Commission that would require all businesses that serve alcoholic beverages to have 24-hour surveillance cameras inside and outside of the properties.

Carpenter added that he and Hayden have also begun reaching out to local businesses to ask them to volunteer to install security cameras pointed at public areas outside their businesses.

“Getting a couple hundred cameras installed across the city will be a great asset to our law enforcement agencies,” Carpenter said.

The mayor is also seeking to amend the city’s nuisance ordinance to require property owners to remove graffiti within 72 hours. Financial assistance would be provided by the city to offset some of the removal costs.

A new text-a-tip hotline is also in the works to allow residents to report crime honestly, said Carpenter.

While law enforcement is taking steps to address violent crime in the city, Cruz said the public should not be alarmed by the recent incidents.

Page 2 of 2 - “These are individuals (the shooters and the victims), I believe, that had a relationship,” Cruz said.

But, when asked what the relationship was or whether it was gang-related, Cruz declined to offer specifics.

“As to whether or not they are gangs, I’m not going to say that,” Cruz said.